Process of giving lisle-thread finish to vegetable fabrics.



, ALEXANDER nUBoIs,

Toma/Z; whom/ it may. concern: 1

I I Beitknown that I, ALEXANDER N. DUBOIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, iuthe countyof Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented cerf tainnew and usefullmprovementsin Methods .oflGiving Lisle-Thread Finish to Vegetable tion. I t l 1 gMy invention relates to a method of removingfrom goods made from vegetable, fiber, particularly cotton goods, the filamental fuzz I i which isapt to occur and giving tosuch goods the smooth luster and finish of what is known as Halo thread? I e It has longbeen known that certain chem: f qicals have the property under certain conditions of changing the character of vegetable in which its fibrous coherence is destroyed or impaired andthe fiber rendered more brittle than in its natural condition. For the most part the practical utilization of this knowledge .has been in eliminating cotton from mixed goods containing wool or wool and silk, with a view of re'coverin g the animal fiber for further use, While the well-known mercerizing process may beinstanced as. another instance in which the action of such chemical on vegetable'fiber has been made of use in the arts. '.My invention depends upon my discover-y that under certain conditions the treatment of vegetable-fiber fabrics with these chemicals having the property of disorganizing cellulose fiber maybe made use of to act. upon and f facilitate the removal of the fila mental fibers projectingfrom the face of the goods without inj uriously. affectin g the body of the goods and,on thecohtrary,;with the effect of, imparting to it asuperior luster and finish and bringing ittoa condition which facilitates thejoperationfof and the effect of.

dyeing. Generally speaking, my method consists in saturatingtheflgoods to be treated with a chemicalor mixture of chemicals having the I property of changingthe physical condition of cellulose fiber, then removing the fluid by 1 mechanical means, such as a hydro-extractor, and then subjecting the goods to a drying ac- I tionuntil the chemical impregnating them acts upon and changes the character of the UNITED STATE A x Eabricsyof which the following is a specificawhile exposed to a regulated heat.

PATENT OFFICE.

OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF GIVING LISLE-THREAD FlNiSH T0 VEGETABLE FABRICS;

I SPfiCI F ICA'iIION forming part of Letters Patent No. 723,147, dated'March 1?,1903.

i i Application filed June 2"], 1899. Serial No. 722,0l6- (Specimens) fuzz, subjecting them at the same time toan energetic attrition, which breaks off the brittle fiber and imparts the lisle-thread luster and finish to the goods. The active chemicals must then be neutralized or removed from the specifically claimed the treatment during dyeing in another application filed with this applicatioii, Serial No. 722,017.

fiber and bringing it to a physical condition a In actual practice I have applied my process as follows with great success: I take four hundred pounds of cold water and add to it either four pounds of sulfuric acid of 66 Baum or twelve pounds of hydrochloric acid at 22 Baum or seven pounds of nitric acid of 36 Baum or a mixture of these acids. Sometimes I use or add some of the organic acids. In this solution I immerse the cotton stockings or other fabrics preferably in what is called in the dyeing art the tomtom, in which the goods are macerated for about thirty min utes. I then remove the goods and extract the solution from them in a hydroextractor, and then I put them in what is called in dyeing an oxidizing-machine, in which the goods are thoroughly mixed up and tumbled about machine I first dry the goods at a temperature of not over 92 Fahrenheit, andfwith the ventilator of the drying-room open in full, and

after the goods are sensibly dry, to from to 1 20 Fahrenheit and maintain the tumbling and consequent attrition of the goodsiuntil the filamental fuzz is rendered brittle and broken 0E and the surface of thegoodsshows line bath. of carbonate of sodium, carbonate of potassium, ammonia liquor, or the like in In this the proportion of about five pounds. of the alkali to the hundred pounds of goods. This neutralizes the acid in the goods, and I then wash out the alkali and soluble salts, dry the goods in an hydro-extractor, and then proceed to dye the goods in any usual way, the goods preserving their gloss and finish and taking the dye more freely and with brighter effects than untreated goods, or instead of dyeing the goods I may bleach them after my treatment, the bleached goods preserving the finish incident to my treatment.-

Ihave also used in my treatment solutions of various metallic salts. For instance, I have mixed in four hundred pounds of water ten pounds of sulfate of copper, or five pounds of acetate of copper, or five pounds of nitrate of copper, or ten pounds of sulfate of iron crystals, or ten pounds of nitrate of iron liquid at 48 Baum,or twelve pounds of am moniumchlorid salt, or thirty pounds sulfate. of sodium, or twenty pounds of sulfate of aluminium, adding'in each case two pounds sulfuric acid of 66 Baum, or four pounds hydrochloric acid at 22 Baum, or two pounds nitric acid at 36 Baum. I have also used ten pounds of acetate of lead mixed with four pounds acetic acid at 8 Baum, or one pound sulfuric acid, or one and a half pounds hydrochloric acid. In all cases the treatment is the same, as above described.

Where I bleach instead of dyeing the goods after my treatment, I first boil the goods, before removing the filament, &c., with an alkali to free the goods from oil or dirt, and then proceed as above described, preferably with free acid, to remove filament and give the desired finish. After this treatment I have obtained the best bleaching with either the chlorid-of-calcium process, peroxid-of-sodium process, or with the permanganate-ofpotassium and sulfurous-acid process. In all cases I get a much quicker bleach after my treatment than is possible with the untreated goods.

In producing the lisle-thread effect during dyeing I include in the dyeing solution some of the chemicals'having the desired effect on cellulose fiber. Indeed, many dyes contain such chemicals in substantially the proper proportions. This is true, especially, of all the anilin-oxidized fast-black-dye liquors, an example being as follows: In a barrel holding about four hundred and fifty pounds put three hundred-and sixty-six pounds hot water, addfive pounds sulfate of copper, one pound acetate of copper, one pound nitrate of copper,two pounds nitrate-of-iron liquid at 48 Baum, five pounds ammonium-chlorid salt, and ten pounds chlorate of sodium or potassium. Stir up well, let the solution cool to about Fahrenheit, and then add forty pounds anilin salt and dissolve, then add slowly two pounds tartaric acid dissolved in eight pounds hot water. In this dye solution the goods are saturated and then treated in the oxidizing-machine, as usual, until the desired green color is secured, after which, instead of removing the goods, I continue the treatment in the oxidizer until the chemicals render the filaments brittle and theattrition breaks them off and polishes the face of the goods. When this lisle-thread effect is produced, I remove the goods and allow them to cool off, subsequentlytreating them, as usual, in the dyeing process to bring out the fastblack color, which after my treatment, however, is much richer than in goods treated in the usual manner.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The method of treating fabrics made of vegetable fiber to remove filamental fuzz therefrom, which consists in subjecting the same to the action of a chemical-adapted to carbonize the fuzz, then subjecting the fabric to oxidation and attrition, and continuing the attrition until the fuzz is removed and the surface finished.

2. Themethod of treating fabrics made of vegetable fiber to remove filamental fuzz therefrom, which consists in subjecting the same to the action of a chemical having an acid radical, then subjecting the fabric to oxidation and attrition, and continuing the attrition until the fuzz is removed and the surface finished.

3.. The process of removing filamental fuzz from fabrics made of vegetable fiber which consists in subjecting the same to the action of a chemical having an acid radical, and then acting on the fabric simultaneously by oxidation and attrition and continuing the attention until the fuzz is removed and a lislethread finish imparted to the goods.

4. The process of removing filamental fuzz from fabrics made of vegetable fiber which consists of saturating or impregnating the fabric with achemicalsolution having an acid radical, then removing the fluid solution, then acting on the fabric simultaneously by heat and attrition, until the filamental fuzz is rubbed off and a smooth lisle-thread finish is imparted to the goods, and then neutralizing the chemicals remaining in the fabric.

5. The process ofremoving filamental fuzz from fabrics made from vegetable fiber, which consists in saturating or impregnating the fabric with a chemical solution adapted to carbouize the fuzz when exposed to heat, then in mechanically removing the chemical solution, exposing thefabric to the simultaneous action of heat and attrition until the filamental fuzz only is carbonized and rubbed off and a lisle-thread finish imparted to the fabric, and then neutralizing the chemicals remaining in the fabric.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER'N. DUBOIS.

Witnesses:

JOHN I. GILBERT, A. G. 'SHILLICH. 

